Football & travel for the big tournaments: World Cup, European Championships, African Cup of Nations, Confederations Cup

Fifa's World Rankings for January 2012 were published yesterday at FIFA HQ in Zurich , Switzerland. 2010 World Cup winners Spain remain on top followed by the Netherlands, Germany and Copa America champs Uruguay. England are in 5th. Ranking Team 1 Spain 2 Netherlands 3 Germany 4 Uruguay 5 England 6 Brazil 7 Portugal 8 Croatia 9 Italy 10 Argentina 11 Denmark 12 Chile 13 Russia 14 Greece 15 France 16 Switzerland 17 Sweden 18 Côte d'Ivoire 19 Bosnia-Herzegovina 19 Japan Full world rankings Previous Fifa World Rankings Bet with Bet 365 Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football fifa

Last time out George got 6 results right including 2 perfect scores the last time out. Saturday 14 January 2012 Aston Villa 1 Everton 1 Blackburn 2 Fulham 1 Chelsea 2 Sunderland 1 Liverpool 2 Stoke 1 Man Utd 1 Bolton 0 Tottenham 1 Wolves 0 West Brom 1 Norwich 1 Sunday 15 January 2012 Swansea 0 Arsenal 0 Newcastle 2 QPR 0 Monday 16 January 2012 Wigan 0 Man City 2 Last week's Premier League predictions Tags World Cup Posters Premiership football predictions

The turn of the year has seen the transfer market in the K-League gather momentum. Players and coaches have returned from their end of season vacations and teams are starting their winter training camps. The first week of 2012 saw two big deals involving midfielders who may not be quite automatic starters for the national team but are never too far from the first eleven. That is certainly the case for Kim Jung-woo. The 29 year-old was a feature of the 2010 World Cup when the Taeguk Warriors made the second round in South Africa and has scored his sixth goal for the national team in Korea’s 6-0 win over Lebanon in qualification for the 2014 World Cup in September. Kim has spent the last two seasons with Gwangju and then Sangju Sangmu, the league’s military team. He was one of the stars of the 2011 season, scoring 15 goals for a team that usually struggles. His return to Seongnam Ilhwa coincided with the end of his contract. Kim was perhaps the most highly sought after Korean player of the close season and was on the wishlist of a number of clubs but ended up with Jeonbuk Motors. “I am overjoyed to join Jeonbuk, last year’s K-League winners and one of the most distinguished clubs in Asia” he said. “I will do my best to meet expectations and do my best for the image of Jeonbuk,” said the 29-year-old. “I have experience playing with (Jeonbuk’s) Lee Dong-gook and Kim Sang-sik at Seongnam. I think we will able to play well if we adjust together through communication. I have many good memories with the two at Seongnam.” Seongnam fans will be consoled by the fact that the club has shelled out not far shy of $2 million to add Yoon Bitgaram to their squad. The midfielder is 21 and has already made 13 appearances for the national team. Glasgow Rangers had bid around $1.3 million for Yoon, who captained Korea’s team at the 2007 Under-17 World Cup and then spent a few weeks with Blackburn Rovers in England, but his club Gyeongnam preferred to sell him to Seongnam for a greater fee. "We have signed Yoon Bitgaram to be part of our challenge to win the K-League and the 2012 AFC Champions League," Seongnam said in a statement. "Naturally, he will strengthen the team and help us increase our fan base." Suwon Bluewings go through players at an alarming rate and have also been busy in the past weeks. The club said goodbye (again) to talismanic defender Mato Neretljak and replaced the tall Croatian with the even taller Australian in the shape of Eddy Bosnar. Bosnar has spent the last four plus seasons in Japan with JEF United and Shimizu S-Pulse. Like Neretljak, he takes a mean free-kick but it remains to be seen if he can become as big a favourite with the fans. If he can’t be the new MAto, he’s hoping he can be the new Sasa Ognenovski who fought his way into the Australian national team after impressing in Korea for Seongnam. "If the move goes ahead I think it gives me a good chance of getting back in the Socceroos picture," said Bosnar. "The facilities at Suwon are better than anything I have seen in Japan and it would give me a chance to play at a higher level." Pohang Steelers have also been shopping overseas following the departure of Brazilian star Mota but have been doing business in Eastern Europe. Hwang Sun-hong led the team to second in the K-League in 2011 He has picked up former Romanian international Ianis Zicu and ex-Serbian U-21 defender Zoran Rendulic. Zicu arrives from CSKA Sofia and has experience in Serie A with Parma while the big defender Rendulic has played in Austria and France. “Zicu doesn’t just have UEFA Champions League and Romanian national team experience, we expect him to become an important part of our attack,” Hwang said. “Rendulic isn’t just a great defender, he can prove useful in attack too.” “I wanted a new challenge so I decided to come to Pohang,” said Zicu. “I know that Pohang are Asia’s most prestigious team and I want to help the club challenge in the AFC Champions League again.” 2010 champions FC Seoul have been fairly quiet so far but it likely to change over the coming weeks while Ulsan Horangi, who made the final of the championship play-offs are also in the market for new players after losing out jeonbuk in the race for Kim. Tags Euro 2012 football

Roberto Mancini and Kenny Dalglish go head-to-head on Tuesday as Man City entertain Liverpool and we've got a fantastic free bet offer to add to the excitement. Place a pre-match bet on the Man City v Liverpool game and we will give you a free In-Play bet to the same stake on the big match. To qualify for your free In-Play bet, simply place a bet before kick-off, then once the game starts place another bet on any In-Play market. If your FIRST In-Play bet loses we will refund this stake, up to the same value as your largest pre-match bet (max £50*). As always, there'll be plenty to choose from with over 60 In-Play markets available throughout the game including Next Goal, Match Goals, Total Corners, Half-Time Result, Full-Time Result and much more. With an extensive range of pre-match and In-Play markets and a fantastic free bet offer, bet365 is the number one place for all your Soccer betting. About bet365 bet365 is one of the world’s largest online gambling groups with over six million customers worldwide. bet365 offers a Sports Betting experience that’s unrivalled. The Group employs over 1,700 people and is the UK’s seventh largest private company. In the 2010 eGaming Review Awards, bet365 was named Operator of the Year and Casino Operator of the Year, as well as receiving the Best Website Performance award. The company came top in eGaming Review’s Annual Power 50. bet365 were named Affiliate Programme of the Year in the iGaming Business Affiliate Awards 2011. bet365’s Affiliates Operations Manager received the Best Affiliate Manager award. Tags Liverpool football betting

Last time out George got 4 results right including 2 perfect scores in last weekend's games and will be out to add some cheer to your Christmas and New Year. Saturday 26th December 2011 Chelsea 2 v Fulham 0 Bolton 0 v Newcastle 0 Liverpool 3 v Blackburn 1 Man Utd 2 v Wigan 0 Sunderland 2 v Everton 2 West Brom 2 v Man City 3 Stoke City 2 v Aston Villa 0 Tuesday 27th December 2011 Arsenal 2 v Wolves 0 Swansea 1 v QPR 0 Norwich 0 v Tottenham 1 Friday 30 December 2011 Liverpool 2 v Newcastle 1 Saturday 31 December 2011 Man Utd 4 v Blackburn 1 Arsenal 2 v QPR 0 Bolton 1 v Wolves 1 Chelsea 2 Aston Villa 1 Norwich 2 v Fulham 2 Stoke City 2 v Wigan 1 Swansea 1 v Tottenham 1 West Brom 2 v Everton 1 Sunderland 0 v Man City 2 The Soccer season is in full swing and the race to win the Premier League and Europe's other top leagues is soon to reach fever pitch. There's no better place to bet on the action throughout the season than bet365 with its market leading dynamic In-Play product. With this comprehensive service you can make every minute of every Soccer game count! bet365 's popular Soccer promotions are also running throughout the season, including the Bore Draw Money Back offer. Just have a pre-match Correct Score, Half-Time/Full-Time or Scorecast bet on any Soccer match and if the game finishes 0-0 they will refund your bet. Enjoy every second of the season at bet365 ! Last week's Premier League predictions Tags World Cup Posters Premiership football predictions

Fifa's World Rankings for December 2011 were published today at FIFA HQ in Zurich , Switzerland. 2010 World Cup winners Spain remain on top followed by the Netherlands, Germany and Copa America champs Uruguay. England are in 5th. Ranking Team 1 Spain 2 Netherlands 3 Germany 4 Uruguay 5 England 6 Brazil 7 Portugal 8 Croatia 9 Italy 10 Argentina 11 Denmark 12 Russia 13 Chile 14 Greece 15 France 16 Côte d'Ivoire 17 Switzerland 18 Sweden 19 Japan 20 Bosnia-Herzegovina Full world rankings Previous Fifa World Rankings Bet with Bet 365 Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football fifa

Barca duly wrapped up the 2011 Club World Cup in Yokohama on Sunday with a one-sided 4-0 win over South American champions Santos in front of a full house of 68,166 fans. The team from Sao Paulo in Brazil had looked likely to provide stiffer opposition than they eventually offered after their impressive 3-1 win over J-League champions Kashiwa Reysol in the semi-final on Wednesday at Toyota Stadium. In the final Barcelona quickly imposed their possession and hard-pressing game on their beleaguered opponents and racked up possession statistics of around 75% which is the team's average in La Liga. The match was basically over by half time as Messi, Xavi and Fabregas all scored in a dominant first 45 minutes. Santos came more into the match in the second period but the individual talents of Neymar, Ganso and Elano were left chasing elusive shadows as the Catalans took the sting out of the game and Messi added a fourth late on to seal Barcelona's second Club World Cup in three years. In the 3rd/4th place play off Al Sadd made history by beating Kashiwa 5-3 on penalties after the teams had played out a goalless draw. Tags Club World Cup football

Last time out George got 5 results right and no perfect scores in last weekend's games and will be hoping to fill your Xmas stocking with some great betting predictions for this week's premiership matches. Saturday 17th December 2011 Blackburn 2 v West Brom 2 Everton 2 v Norwich 1 Fulham 2 v Bolton 0 Newcastle 3 v Swansea 2 Wolverhampton 1 v Stoke 1 Wigan 1 v Chelsea 3 Sunday 18th December 2011 QPR 0 v Man Utd 1 Aston Villa 1 v Liverpool 1 Tottenham 3 v Sunderland 1 Man City 1 v Arsenal 0 The Soccer season is in full swing and the race to win the Premier League and Europe's other top leagues is soon to reach fever pitch. There's no better place to bet on the action throughout the season than bet365 with its market leading dynamic In-Play product. With this comprehensive service you can make every minute of every Soccer game count! bet365 's popular Soccer promotions are also running throughout the season, including the Bore Draw Money Back offer. Just have a pre-match Correct Score, Half-Time/Full-Time or Scorecast bet on any Soccer match and if the game finishes 0-0 they will refund your bet. Enjoy every second of the season at bet365 ! Last week's Premier League predictions Tags World Cup Posters Premiership football predictions

See some photographs of the Kashiwa Reysol v Santos game at the Club World Cup at Toyota Stadium. Tags santos football

Santos overcame J-League champions Kashiwa Reysol at Toyota Stadium in the first semi-final of the 2011 Club World Cup . 19-year-old superstar-in-waiting Neymar opened the scoring in the 19th minute with a superb looping left foot shot. The genuinely two-footed player was sensational in the opening half, linking well with his team-mates and showing some amazing dribbling skills. Reysol resorted to crude fouling to try and contain the young tyro. Five minutes later Borges rifled home a great second goal for Santos from just outside the area and it looked as if Kashiwa would be overwhelmed. To their credit, the Japanese side regrouped in the second half and got back in the match with a headed goal by Hiroki Sakai from a corner by Wagner. Santos' third was another spectacular strike, this time from a free kick by Danilo, that he expertly bent around the wall. The team in yellow refused to buckle, however, and came close to a reply from Masakatsu Saka, who spurned two great chances created down the left of Santos' defence. The 30,000 strong crowd, who braved a cold evening in Nagoya, left happily after witnessing a fine match full of attacking play by both sides. Santos go on to the final in Yokohama on Sunday where they will expect to face European Champions and holders Barcelona. Tags Club World Cup football